Flooded
by TessaStarDean
Summary: Post Day 6. Disaster strikes, and Jack must find Chloe...


Jack's heart nearly stopped as he watched the "Breaking News Alert" on CNN. His mouth fell open in horror at the sight of the burst dam and the bodies that were floating through what had once been Teremuth, Oregon. The woman on the screen explained that it had been raining for nearly seven days, and that morning the Haladuct Dam had finally succumbed to the torrent.

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_"You're leaving?" Jack asked, unable to keep the disappointment from seeping into his voice._

_"I have to," she mumbled._

_"No, Chloe, you don't," he said, turning her so that she had to face him. "You don't have to go anywhere."_

_"It's too much, Jack," she protested, tears slipping down her face. "I can't stay here. Everywhere I look I see something that reminds me of her. It's driving me crazy."_

_"Let me help," he said quietly._

_"You can't. She's gone – my baby is gone and I never even got to meet her."_

_"Please, Chloe," he begged, his voice breaking. "Stay."_

_"I can't, Jack. I'm sorry."_

_Sighing he let her go, trying desperately to keep his emotions in check. The very thought of her going away made his stomach knot painfully, and he suddenly felt lost. _

_"Where will you go?" he finally asked._

_"Teremuth. In Oregon."_

_"Why there?"_

_She shrugged. "I like the way it sounds."_

_"If you need anything, Chloe…anything at all…"_

_"I know. I'll call you."_

_She hugged him tightly then, breathing him in as she tried to commit everything about him to her memory. He pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair. But then she pulled back and grabbed her suitcase, walking out the door._

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He dialed her number again and again, but got nothing more than her voice mail. He left message after message, begging her to call him as soon as she could, telling her that he needed to know she was okay. Pacing around his apartment, Jack tried not to panic. But as the news reported a rising death toll in that area of Oregon, he felt a part of his heart being ripped away.

Giving in to the worry, he finally picked up his phone again, dialing a new number.

"Buchanan."

"Bill, it's me."

"Jack! It's been awhile."

"I need your help."

"With what?"

"Have you seen the news coming out of Oregon?"

"The flood? Of course. It's all over the major news networks."

"I need to get out there."

"Why?"

"Chloe."

"What about her?"

"That's where she moved to, Bill, after she left Los Angeles. She lives in Teremuth."

"My God. That's where the dam burst."

"She's not answering her cell phone. I need a chopper to bring me up there, Bill. I have to find her."

"How soon can you get here?"

"Ten minutes."

"I'll have the chopper standing by."

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His hope died as he stared down at the scene below him. The entire town of Teremuth was under water. The tops of houses peeked out here and there, but that was the only clue that he was looking down at an actual town instead of a large lake. As the helicopter came down towards a makeshift landing pad, his heart sank even lower. Rescue workers were out in boats, searching for the injured – but they were pulling out more victims than survivors.

"Jack Bauer?"

He looked up to see an older man standing in front of him. His eyes were a pale grey, and Jack could tell from the cropped hair that he was military.

"Colonel Mager?"

"Yes. Bill Buchanan called me and told me that you'd be joining us. We've searched the area around Ms. O'Brian's house thoroughly, and we haven't found anything."

"Nothing?" Jack asked, disappointed.

"No, but that's not necessarily a bad sign, Jack. That means we didn't find a body. There's a chance she's survived the flood."

"So where do we start?"

"One my men is going to take you out in a boat. I have a couple others checking the local shelters where we've been shuttling survivors."

Jack shook his hand.

"Thank you, Colonel."

"I hope you find your friend, Jack. I really do."

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They searched for hours, ignoring the rain as it started up again, ignoring the chill that was seeping through their clothes and into their bones. The daylight faded, bringing on the darkness, cloaking everything around them in shadow. Jack's hope died with the day, and his chest constricted as time went on, until he was barely able to breathe.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bauer. But we have to head back now."

He heard the words, but couldn't bring himself to respond. His mind was full of images of Chloe trapped somewhere, the water rising around her. Despite her strength, he knew that she would be afraid as the end neared. He prayed to God that she hadn't died waiting for him to rescue her.

"I tried, Chloe," he whispered brokenly. "I swear to you, I tried."

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Bill let his head fall into his hands as he sat at his desk. Colonel Mager had just called him, letting him know that they had not found Chloe. She wasn't in any of the shelters, and couldn't be found among the survivors – the chances of them finding her alive were slim to none.

Tears pricked the back of his eyes, and he let them come. He had become very fond of the snarky computer analyst, and the thought of her dying alone in another state broke his heart. And then he remembered Jack, and his sadness doubled. Bill knew that losing Chloe when she moved had nearly killed him, and he could only imagine how he was shutting down at the news of her almost certain death.

The phone rang suddenly, and he picked his head back up, wiping away the tears that had slid down his cheeks. He would have to wait until later to mourn – for now, there was still work to do.

"CTU," he answered.

"Mr. Buchanan?"

His heart leapt into his throat at the voice.

"Chloe?" he whispered. "Chloe, is that really you?"

"Yeah. I just turned my phone on and I had a ton of messages from you and Jack. What's going on?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at LAX."

Bill let out a huge sigh of relief.

"So you're okay then?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on?"

"Chloe, there's flooding in Oregon. Teremuth is completely under water."

"What?"

"The dam broke. A lot of people are dead. We thought…we thought you were one of them."

"We?"

"Yes, Jack flew out to Oregon this morning to look for you." He paused. "Chloe, we need to get you out there as soon as possible. He thinks you're dead."

"I can be at CTU in about fifteen minutes."

"I'll have a helicopter standing by to send you out there. By the way, Chloe…where have you been? And why haven't you answered your phone?"

"I took your advice and I went on vacation. I've been in Fiji for the past week. I turned my phone off as soon as I got there, thinking it would be a good way to get away from everything."

Bill laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

"Get here as soon as you can, Chloe. I'll try to let Jack know that you're alright."

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"Are we glad to see you, Ms. O'Brian," an older man stated as she got off of the helicopter. He extended his hand to her. "I'm Colonel Mager."

She shook his hand. "Hi. Have you found Jack?"

"No. It seems after his boat came back, he disappeared without a word. I have men out looking for him, but they haven't been successful yet."

"Has anyone checked Mount Misery?"

The colonel frowned. "No. We didn't see a reason to."

Chloe shrugged. "You wouldn't unless you knew Jack really well. Do you have a vehicle I could use?"

"I'll find you one. If you don't mind my asking, why would he go there?"

"It's just a hunch," she explained. "But I told him a couple months ago that it was my favorite place to go to just think. He told me he wanted to come visit me and see it."

The colonel reached out and squeezed her arm reassuringly. He wanted these two to find each other so badly – his man had told him of Jack's emotional state when they came back empty handed.

"I'll go see about that car," he said gently.

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He stared out into the night sky, the ground dropping away in front of him. It had been a decent hike to the top of Mount Misery, but he had barely noticed. His mind was consumed with images of Chloe, memories setting fire to his brain as he realized that he was never going to see her again. As he stood there, the tears overcame him, and he collapsed to the ground, letting his grief consume him.

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Her heart broke when she saw him on the ground, his shoulders shaking with the force of his sobs. She called out his name, but he didn't hear her, blocking out the world as he mourned. Biting her lip and fighting back tears of her own, she rushed up to him, hesitating only slightly before resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Jack's entire body jerked as he turned to see who was touching him. When he found himself staring into Chloe's face, his jaw went slack and he suddenly wondered if he had started hallucinating. He tried to say something, but his throat refused to work, tears still streaming down his face.

Chloe knelt down beside him, taking his face in her hands.

"Jack?"

"Chloe," he rasped finally. "You…we looked…couldn't find you."

"I wasn't here, Jack. I've been away for a week. I didn't even know about the flood until I called Bill."

"I called you…I left messages."

"I know. I didn't get them until a couple hours ago when I got in to LAX."

He frowned, confusion marring his features.

"The airport?"

"I went on vacation. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But I figured you wouldn't notice – there's usually at least two weeks between our letters. I should have said something. I'm so sorry –"

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body to his, holding her tightly and burying his face in her hair. She relaxed into him, and he leaned back, laying them both down on the ground as their embrace continued.

"I thought…I thought you were dead," he whispered. "I thought I lost you."

She squeezed him tightly.

"I'm right here, Jack," she assured him. "I'm okay."

"I can't do this, Chloe," he said suddenly.

She pulled back to look at him, her body on top of his.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't do this. I can't have you so far away. I can't have you not in my life every day."

"Jack, I can't come back to L.A. It's not my home anymore –"

"Neither is this. Chloe, Teremuth is gone. It's going to take forever to put it back together."

"I can't go back," she repeated.

"I'm not saying you should. Please, Chloe, let me come with you. Wherever you end up going. I don't want to be away from you anymore."

She frowned. "Are you serious? You really want to come with me?"

"Please," he begged.

"Where will we go?"

"Wherever you want."

"I don't get it Jack," she said finally. "Where is this coming from? You've lived without me before."

"Not happily," he pointed out. "I almost left again after I got back from China, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't leave you again. I need you, Chloe. I need you in my life."

"What are you saying?"

He brushed a stray hair out of her face, letting his hand linger.

"I'm saying that I love you."

She shook her head vehemently.

"You're just saying that because you thought I was dead."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Chloe, stop. This isn't a sudden thing. I've been in love with you for years."

"Since when?"

"Since I was on the run and you helped me fake my death."

"But…but you never said anything."

"I know. And I'm so sorry for that. It just never seemed like the right time. I was dead, and then I was in China. When I came back, you were pregnant and I was a broken man. I thought the last thing you needed was me."

Her lip quivered, and a few tears fell down her face. Jack rubbed his thumb along her cheek, wiping them away.

"Don't cry," he whispered with a smile.

"I had no idea," she finally said.

He shrugged. "It's okay, Chloe –"

She cut him off with a kiss, pressing her lips firmly against his. He responded immediately, holding her tighter and sliding his tongue into her mouth. They stayed like that for a long time, ignoring the drizzle falling down on them, their kisses growing more desperate and passionate. Finally, they pulled back, resting their foreheads against each other.

"Take me with you," he whispered.

Chloe nodded.

"I'd take you anywhere, Jack Bauer."

"Glad to hear it," he smiled.


End file.
